Real-Time Interactive 3D Games: Creating 3D Games in Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio [Paperback]

Allen Partridge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 20, 2001

Real-Time Interactive 3D Games: Creating 3D Game in Macromedia Director 8.5/Shockwave Studio will teach developers how to create attention-grabbing real-time 3D games with Director 8.5/Shockwave Studio. The book is broken up into three parts: The first part demonstrates good character and environment design for interactive games. The second part presents a substantial set of tutorials on the use of 3D Lingo to program games. The final part teaches developers how to build strategy and surprise into their games to give the player the best experience possible. This structure mirrors the best game development practices and gives readers the skills to go out and develop games on their own. Along the way, Partridge shares some of his own experiences in game development.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Director 8.5 has fully embraced the 3-D online world and Real-Time Interactive 3D Games describes in detail how to build an immersive and exciting world using this rich and powerful tool. More than just an examples-according-to-feature book, it takes us on the journey of building a handful of finished products, from ideas scribbled on napkins through building and testing to marketing and selling a finished game.

This is a large book, with ample technical examples and code snippets to complement the discussion at hand. (Don't worry, it's all on the CD-ROM.) The author presents both a broad view--there are chapters devoted to properly designing the flow of the game and the design of the characters and their traits--as well as specific Director techniques. Screen shots accompany the majority of examples when appropriate, and code snippets are clearly formatted in a different font and are well commented on.

Structured around three main parts, Partridge's book first explores the "dramatic structure of games." This is less about how an interactive 3-D game is built than why one is built the way it is; this first part is worth the price of the book alone. There is insight here that goes far beyond the usual technical how-to guide.

Another section worth noting includes the chapters on 3-D character creation using 3ds max or Maya. Building, texturing, and animating low-resolution polygon characters is an art in itself, but successfully importing that data into Director and using the models would be nearly impossible without the vital insight given in this book.

3-D rendering on the fly? An environment for authoring first-person-shooter games? Low-polygon models with textures rendered dynamically? This is not your father's Macromedia Director. --Mike Caputo

From the Back Cover

This book provides an exciting blend of game design strategies, nuts-and-bolts programming tips, deeply detailed code samples, and richly developed games and demos. Real-Time Interactive 3D Games defines the role of narratives in games and is packed with valuable advice on a variety of topics, including tapping into the traditions of theater to make the games you develop more dramatic and tips for marketing your 3D game.The first part of the book demonstrates good character and environment design for interactive games. A substantial set of tutorials on the use of 3D Lingo to program games follows. Finally, you can follow along with Dr. Partridge and his team as they build a dramatic real-time interactive 3D game called 17 Keys. The structure mirrors the best game development practices to give you the skills to go out and develop games on your own.A detailed and practical guide to Shockwave 3D, including simulating physics for games and advanced control with modifiersBeyond just code, teaches game design procedures including developing treatments, specs and game interface design strategiesIntelligent game agents explained and demonstratedCameras, lights, models, shaders, textures, and animationSecrets to low-poly modeling for real-time gamesA fully developed real-time 3D game with explanations and commented code

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Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Sams (November 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672322854
• ISBN-13: 978-0672322853
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,465,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent insight into game conception and design, February 15, 2002

By 

Danny Kodicek (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real-Time Interactive 3D Games: Creating 3D Games in Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio (Paperback)

This is a book of two halves - game programming and game design. At the heart of it is the new Director 3D programming engine, which is a major new addition to the capabilities of the software. Allen Partridge's book is aimed principally at those who are familiar with Director and comfortable with lingo, but may be new to 3D as a whole. The first half of the book goes through the capabilities of the 3d engine in detail, including shaders, lights, textures, physics and vector maths, as well as some insights into using 3D modelling software to its best advantage. The second half looks at the process of creating an actual game, and one of its most valuable features is that the accompanying CD includes the game at many stages of the design process.
If you're looking purely for 'how to program in 3d', you may find that half the book is not what you're looking for: much of it is given over to game storyboarding, character design, marketing etc. But if you're looking for an all-round approach to game design, then this is a great introduction and inspiration.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars So So, April 24, 2005

By 

O. Hinostroza "sephirothevil" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real-Time Interactive 3D Games: Creating 3D Games in Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio (Paperback)

Okay if you want to learn 3d the fast way in director then this isn't the book for you. The book does in some ways go into detail but then again he also side tracks so this book is not for the new comers. Your suppose to know a few things in director already and also in the lingo area. The whole thing in this book is the lingo part. Its code heavy so you as the reader is suppose to have some sort of back ground in director in order to understand it. Over all its an okay book but not the best.

4.0 out of 5 stars Never really got into it, April 14, 2010

By 

bukaroobonzai (Middle of Nowhere) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Real-Time Interactive 3D Games: Creating 3D Games in Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio (Paperback)

I am a technical manual geek... I have ten times more tech manuals than any other type of book.

This one, I never really got into. I know programming, but this seemed a bit out of line for what I was looking for.

Though you might find it helpful, I didn't. (Still a good fundamentals book though)